Device for automatically latching a container to a railway car or the like and for automatically unlatching it therefrom

ABSTRACT

A container fitting is automatically latched to a railway car or the like as a direct result of lowering the container thereon, is held in latched position against the action of any usual forces likely to be encountered by the car in transit, and is automatically unlatched when the container is lifted from the car by a force sufficient to overcome the force of gravity acting on the container and the force of a spring maintaining the latched condition at each corner of the container.

United States Patent Sweger 1451 June 20, 1972 Inventor:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

u.s. c1. ..l05/366 c, 105/366 D, 248/1 19 R int. c1. ..,.B60p 7/08, 865]1/22 Field 61 Search ..1os/366;'24s/1 19, 361;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1914 Martin ..105/369A 2/1922Smith ..105/366 2,071,355 2/1937 Norbom 105/366 R26,640 8/ 1969 Connerat..248/1 19 1,875,906 9/1932 Zarobsky .....292/74 X 2,261,789 11/1941Anderson ..292/74 X 2,755,120 7/1956 Young et al. ..292/74 3,389,6646/1968 Pulcrano et al.... 105/366 3,391,654 7/1968 Grob et a1 ..105/3663,417,712 12/1968 Pulcrano et a1, 105/366 X 3,431,868 3/1969 Cordani etal. ..105/366 Primary Examiner--Drayton E. Hoffman Attorney-Robert R.Lockwood [5 7] ABSTRACT A container fitting is automatically latched toa railway car or the like as a direct result of lowering the containerthereon, is held in latched position against the action of any usualforces likely to be encountered by the car in transit, and isautomatically unlatched when the container is lifted from the car by aforce sufficient to overcome the force of gravity acting on thecontainer and the force of a spring maintaining the latched condition ateach corner of the container.

34 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJunm m2 SHEET 10F 8 FIG./

PATENTEDJUNZO 1972 3.67 0,663 sum 3 or 8 PKTENTEDJURZU I972 3. 670.663saw 5 or s FIG.

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY LATCHING A CONTAINER TO A RAILWAY CAR OR THELIKE AND FOR AUTOMATICALLY UNLATCHING IT THEREFROM This invention is animprovement over the construction disclosed in Sweger US. applicationSer. No. 703,005, filed Feb. 5, 1968 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,498,238, issuedMar. 3, 1970.

Among the objects of this invention are: To automatically latch thebottom container fittings to the bed of a railway car, truck or deck ofa ship by lowering the container into transport position thereon andwithout requiring any manual operation with respect to the latchmechanism; to automatically unlatch the bottom container fittings fromthe transport carrier when the container is lifted therefrom withoutrequiring any manual unlocking operation of the latch mechanism; toemploy for this purpose a latch that is biased by a relatively weakspring to a latch receiving opening in a bottom container fitting whichis displaced from latched position on lowering of the container to thetransport carrier and is moved into the opening by this spring when thecontainer is fully lowered into transport position and also to employ arelatively strong spring that reacts against the latch tohold it inlatched position and is overcome only when s'ufficient force is appliedto the container to lift it from the transport carrier against the forceof gravity and to overcome the action of the relatively strong spring;to provide the latch with angularly related surfaces to be engaged bythe container fitting one as it is being lowered onto the transportcarrier and the other as it is being lifted therefrom for selectivelystressing relatively weak and relatively strong springs to displace thelatch from latched position; to arrange for prestressing the springs; toarrange for translatory and rotary movement of the latch; to permittranslation of the latch under the biasing action of the relatively weakspring and rotation of the latch under the biasing action of therelatively strong spring; to guide the springs to exert their biasingactions in transverse directions; to multiply the forces exerted by therelatively weak and relatively strong springs in biasing a latch to andholding it in latching position with a container fitting thereby makingit possible to employ less expensive springs for this purpose; toutilize the action of an L-shaped lever or bell crank for this purposewith one arm arranged to be moved into latching engagement with anopening in the container fitting; to mount the L-shaped lever or bellcrank for rotation about two axes one at the junction between the armsof the lever or bell crank and the other at the distal end of the otherarm; to employ pin and slot connections to the L-shaped lever or bellcrank; to arrange for a relatively weak coil tension spring to bias theone arm of the lever or bell crank into latching position in thecontainer fitting, this spring being connected to the other armintermediate its ends and for a relatively strong compression spring toreact against the distal end of this other arm to hold the bell crank inlatching position; to rotate the lever or bell crank about both axes andprincipally against the biasing action of the relatively strongcompression spring when sufficient force is applied to the container tolift it from the railway car and against this biasing action; to mountthe latch assemblies for movement in slots along opposite sides of thefloor of the railway car at different locations to accommodate differentlengths of the containers; to arrange for swinging the latch assembliesto retracted positions below the surface of the floor; and to providefor by passing certain of the retracted latch assemblies which are notrequiredfor a given container size or to facilitate the use of properlyshaped latch assemblies for a given container.

According to one embodiment of this invention a number of containersecuring devices is mounted on the bed ordeck of a railway car, truck,ship or the like, one for each of the four corners of the containerwhich, at each corner, has a bottom container fitting with at least oneopening in one of its walls. More than one set of four devices isprovided depending upon the number of containers to be received on aparticular transport carrier. Each device includes a pair of rightangularly related walls for overlying the similarly related walls of abottom container fitting. On one of the walls of the device a latch ismounted for translation into the opening in the adjacent wall of thebottom container fitting. The latch has an end surface inclined to thepath of the bottom container fitting as it is lowered onto the devicewhich is engageable by the container fitting to displace the latchagainst the biasing action of a relatively weak coil compression spring.When the container fitting is fully seated on the container securingdevice, the latch is moved into latching position in the opening in thecontainer fitting by the relatively weak spring and is held in thelatched position by a relatively strong spring which is arranged toreact against the latch in a direction transverse to the direction inwhich the relatively weak spring acts when there is any force exerted onthe latch tending to move it to the unlatched position. The latch isretained in the latched position by the relatively strong spring againstany force likely to be applied to the container during its transport. Aside surface on the latch is engageable by the container fitting whenthe container is lifted from the transport device by an overhead craneor the like to displace the latch against the force exerted by therelatively strong spring and rotate it out of latching engagement. Theweight of the transport carrier is greater than the force required tolift the container and also overcome the biasing action of each of therelatively strong springs at the comers of the container biasing therespective latches toward the latched positions. No manual operation isrequired for the manipulation of the latch to and from the latchedposition.

According to another embodiment of this invention an L- shaped lever orbell crank is mounted on a housing for rotation about two axes. It has arelatively short arm for latching engagement with an opening in a sidewall of a container fitting and a relatively long arm having arelatively strong coil compression spring reacting against its distalend to maintain the latching engagement. A relatively weak coil tensionspring, connected to the long arm of the lever or bell crankintermediate its ends, biases the short arm into latching position whenthe container is lowered onto the railway car. The distal end of theshort arm has an inclined face that is engaged by the container fittingas it is lowered into latching position for displacing the lever or bellcrank against the biasing action of the tension spring. Another surfaceof the short arm is engaged by the container fitting as it is elevatedto rotate the lever or bell crank against the action of the compressionspring and out of latching position. The latch assemblies, eachincluding the housing and spring biased lever or hell crank, are mountedin slots along opposite sides of the floor of the railway car and areslidable to different positions to accommodate different lengths ofcontainers. The latch assemblies are swingable to retracted positionsbelow the surface of the deck or floor and, where they are not needed,they can be by passed in retracted position.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an end portion of a railway car whichtypifies the application of the container securing device of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, at an enlarged scale, showing the detailsof construction of one of the hollow bottom container fittings, it beingunderstood that they are constructed for right hand and left handmounting at the lowercorners of the container.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 3-3of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the construction shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 55 ofFIG. 4, and shows the latch in the latched position in an opening in aside wall of the container fitting which occupies the transportposition.

FIG. 6 is a view, similar to FIG. 5, and shows the container fittingbeing moved downwardly as the container is being lowered into transportposition with the latch being displaced from latched position againstthe biasing action of the relatively weak spring.

FIG. 7 is a view, similar to FIG. 5, and shows the manner in which thelatch is moved to the unlatched position against the biasing action ofthe relatively strong spring when the container is lifted and thecontainer fitting is moved upwardly.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an end portion of a railway car whichtypifies the application of another embodiment of the container securingdevice of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view, at an enlarged scale, takengenerally along the line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line10-10 ofFIG. 9.

FIG. 1 1 is a top plan view of the construction shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional view, at an enlarged scale, takengenerally along the line 12-12 of FIG. 10 and showing the containerfitting being lowered into latching engagement with the latch assembly.7

FIG. 13 is a view, similar to FIG. 12, showing the container fittingbeing lifted off of the latching assembly.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a modified form of transport carrierdeck with which the container locking means of this invention can beemployed.

FIG. is an elevational view at an enlarged scale taken generally alongthe line 15--15 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 16-16 ofFlG. '15.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be observed that the referencecharacter 10 designates, generally, a portion of a transport carriersuch as a railway car. However, it will be understood that the presentinvention can be employed in connection with other transport carrierssuch as trucks, ships and the like. The transport carrier 10 is providedwith a floor or deck 11 which, in the case of a railway car, may includetransversely extending floor boards overlying an underframe ofconventional construction. Secured to the underframe and mounted in thefloor or deck 11 is a number of elongated mounting fixtures that areindicated at 12. The mounting fixtures 12 are secured to the railway carand in particular are preferably secured to the underframe. The railwaycar 10 is arranged to transport rectangular containers one of which isindicated, generally, at 13 and is provided at each of its lower cornerswith a hollow bottom container fitting 14 that may be a. metalliccasting and the general details of which are illustrated more clearly inFIG. 2. Here it will be observed that the bottom container fitting 14has a vertical slot or latch receiving opening 15 in one side wall 16which extends at right angles to another side wall 17 having a circularopening 18. A bottom wall 19 interconnects the side walls 16 and 17 andit has a slot 20 therein. It will be understood that the containerfitting 14 is constructed for right hand and left hand application tothe bottom of the rectangular container 13. However, the construction ateach corner is identical except for being opposite hand from one side tothe other.

For receiving the container fittings 14 at the lower comers of thecontainer 13 container locking means, indicated generally at 21 in FIG,1, are provided. They are of identical construction except that they arearranged for opposite hand mounting to cooperate with correspondinglyconstructed container fittings 14.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 the details of construction of the container lockingmeans 21 are shown more clearly. It will be understood that thecontainer locking means 21 here shown is for application to thecontainer fitting 14 that is located at the lower right side of thecontainer 13 as viewed in FIG. 1. Except for the opposite handconstruction the container locking means 21 for the left side of thecontainer 13is identical in construction. The container locking means 21includes a housing that is indicated, generally, at 22 and may be amalleable iron casting. It includes vertical walls 23 and 24 whichextend at right angles to each other and are arranged to overlierespectively the walls 16 and 17 of the container fitting 14. A lowerwall section 25 of the vertical wall 23 projects through a slot 26 inthe elongated mounting fixture 12 and it terminates at its lower endwith an enlargement or trunnion 27 which serves to hold the housing 22from being lifted above the respective mounting fixture 12 when thecontainer 13 is lifted from the transport carrier 10. A rectangularopening 28 is provided at the opposite end of the mounting fixture 12for receiving the container locking means 21 which can be rotated aboutthe trunnion 27 underneath the slot 26 in order to position thecontainer locking means 21 below the surface of the floor or deck 11. Ahinged cover 29 then is swung to closed position over the rectangularopening 28.

In order to limit the lateral bodily movement of each of the containerlocking means 21 recesses 30 are formed in the mounting fixture 12 forreceiving shear lugs 31, FIGS. 3 and 4, that extend downwardly from thelower edge of the vertical wall 24. The recesses 30 are located atvarious positions along the mounting fixture l2 toaccommodate differentlengths of container 13.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 it will be noted that a floor 32 extends horizontallyfrom the vertical walls 23 and 24 and is arranged to receive the bottomwall 19 of the respective container fitting 14. Also walls 33 and 34depend from two of the sides of the floor 32 and extend into engagementwith the surface of the mounting fixture 12 to provide a suitablesupport having substantial area for the container locking means 21 whichis capable of sustaining readily the weight of the container 13.

In FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 further details of construction of each of thecontainer locking means 21 are shown. It will be observed that acylindrical latch 37 is translatorily and rotatably mounted in aclearance opening 38 in the wall 23 of the housing 22. The latch 37 ismounted for sliding movement in an opening through a cylindricalextension 39 that is an integral part of the housing 22. Within thecylindrical extension 39 there is a coil compression spring 40 that isrelatively weak, i.e., it may be a 50 pound spring and one end islocated in a reduced diameter opening 41 at the outer end of theextension 39. One end of the relatively weak spring 40 reacts against alower end 42 of the extension 39 and at its other end against the innerend 43 of the cylindrical latch 37. A centering boss 44 extending fromthe inner end 43 of the latch 37 serves to maintain the upper end of thespring 40 in proper position. The outer end 45 of the latch 37 isarranged to extend into the vertical slot or latch receiving opening 15in the side wall 16 of the container fitting 14 as shown in FIG. 5. Theoutward movement of the latch 37 is limited and the spring 40 is held inprestressed condition by a transverse pin 46 which extends through asuitable opening in the latch 37 with the ends projecting through slots47 in the cylindrical extension 39.

As the container 13 is lowered onto the floor or deck 1 1 an end surface48 of the latch 37 is engaged by a lower comer 49 of the bottomcontainer fitting 14. This is shown by broken lines in FIG. 6. Thecontinued downward movement of the container fitting 14 moves the latch37 downwardly into the cylindrical extension 39 and compresses thespring 40 somewhat further. As soon as the container fitting 14 isseated, as shown in FIG. 5, the spring 40 expands and moves the latch 37into the latched position in the latch receiving opening 15.

At its lower end the cylindrical extension 39 has a drainage opening 50to prevent the accumulation of moisture within the housing 22.

A substantial force is required to hold the latch 37 in the latchedposition. For this purpose the spring 52 is relatively strong. Forexample, the spring 52 can be a 1,500 pound spring. It is mounted in ahollow cylindrical extension 53 of the housing 22. It will be noted thatthe cylindrical extension 53 is located at right angles to the locationof the cylindrical extension 39 containing the relatively weak spring40. Thus the springs 40 and 52 react in directions that are transverseto each other. The spring 52 reacts against a bottom wall 54 of theextension 53 and against a follower 55 which is movably mounted withinthe extension 53. The follower 55 has a flat surface 56 that is arrangedto be engaged by a knife edge 57 that is formed on an extension 58 fromthe latch 37. In order to hold the spring 52 in prestressed condition atransverse pin 59 extends through the follower 55 and into slots 60 thatare provided in opposite sides of the cylindrical extension 53. Theconstruction is such that,when the latch 37 is in the position shown inFIG. 5, there is a slight space 61 between the knife edge 57 and thejuxtaposed flat surface 56. When the container 13 is lifted from thefloor or deck 11, the container fitting 14 movesupwardly as indicated inFIG. 7. When this takes place, the lower edge 62 of the opening 15 inthe container fitting 14 engages a side surface 63 of the latch 37 whichextends at right angles to the end surface 48. As a result the latch 37is rotated about the transverse pin 46 as here illustrated and the knifeedge 57 engages the flat surface 56 and moves the follower 55 inwardlycompressing the spring 52. It will be understood that this requires theexertion of substantial force which is greater than the force that isexerted against the latch 37 during the normal transit of the transportcarrier 10. A rounded lower side 64 of the latch 37 facilitates itsbeing rotated to the positionshown in FIG. 7 or to the position inwhichit clears the side wall 16 and has been moved out of juxtapositionwith the lower edge 62 of the slot 15.

It now will be apparent that, as the container fitting 14 is moveddownwardly, as indicated by the arrow 65 in FIG. 6, the lower corner 49first engages the end surface 48 of the latch 37 and moves the latch 37downwardly against the biasing action of the relatively weak spring 40.As soon as the lower edge of the end surface 48 clears the lower edge 62of the slot 15, the spring 40 biases the latch 37 with a translatorymovement into the slot 15 or into the latched position. The latch 37then remains in the latched position since the spring 52 is strongenough to hold it against any force normally ex-' erted on the latch 37during the transit of the transport carrier 10.

When the container fitting 14 is moved upwardly as indicated by thearrow 66 in FIG. 7, the lower edge 62 of the opening 15 engages the sidesurface 63 of the latch 37 and rotates it out of the slot 15 or out ofthe latched position. This requires the application of sufficient forceto the container 13 not only to lift it against the force of gravity butalso to compress each of the four relatively strong coil compressionsprings 52 at the corners of the container 13. Since the weight of thetransport carrier is substantially greater than the force required tolift the container 13 under these conditions, the latches 37 'arerotated to the unlatched position as the respective container fittings14 are moved upwardly. As soon as the lower corner 49 of each of thecontainer fittings 14 clears the latch 37 it is rotated to the latchedposition shown in FIG. 5, the container fitting 14 being absent.

In FIG. 8 a portion of a transport carrier, such as a railway car,truck, ship or the like, is indicated, generally, at 70. The transportcarrier 70 is provided with a floor or deck 71 which may be formed ofsteel plate and secured in a suitable manner to the underframe of therailway car, if used. Longitudinal openings 72 are formed in the flooror deck 77 along opposite sides and at different locations for thepurpose of securing a number of containers 13 in place and also forsecuring containers 13 of varying lengths. In each of the longitudinalopenings there is positioned an inverted U-shaped mounting fixture 73which is secured to the underframe and it has a longitudinal slot 74 inthe top portion 75 from which notches 76 extend to one side to permitpositioning of container locking means, indicated generally at 77, atvarious locations along the mounting fixture 73. Each of thelongitudinal slots 74 opens into a rectangular opening 78 in the topportion 75 of the fixture 73 to permit retraction of the containerlocking means 77 below the surface of the floor or deck 71. A cover 79,hinged to the fixture 73, is arranged to cover the opening 78 in orderto present a flat upper surface for the transport carrier 70 flush withthe surface of the floor or deck 71.

Recesses 80 are provided at spaced locations in the floor or deck 71 forreceiving shear lugs 81 that depend from the side wall 82 of a housing,indicated generally at 83, and formed of malleable iron, for preventingshifting of the container locking means 77. It will be understood thatthe housing 83 is suitably constructed and arranged for left hand andright hand mounting on the transport carrier 70. Except for thisrelationship the container locking means 77 are identical inconstruction.

The transport carrier 70 is intended for having mounted thereon one ormore of the rectangular containers a portion of one of which isindicated, generally, at 13 having right and left hand hollow bottomcontainer fittings 14 at their lower corners as previously described.

The housing 83 includes vertical walls 87 and 88 which are located atright angles to each other and are arranged to overlie the side walls 16and 17 of the container fitting 14.

In order to prevent upward movement of the container locking means 77the vertical wall 87 is provided with a lower wall extension 89, FIG. 9,which projects through one of the notches 76 depending upon the positionof the housing 83 along the mounting fixture 73. The lower wallextension 89 is of such dimension that it is readily slidable alonglongitudinal slot 74 to position it in registry with the desired notch76 for locating the position of the container locking means 77 inaccordance with the length of the container 13. At its lower end thelower wall extension 89 has a trunnion 90 that is formed integrallytherewith and is of such dimension that it extends across the notch 76underneath which it is located. It will be understood that, for eachlocation of the container locking means 77 with respect to one of thenotches 76, the shear lugs 81 are arranged to enter the recesses 80.Thus the housing 83 is secured to the mounting fixture 73 and againstsliding movement with respect to the floor or deck 71.

The housing 83 is provided with a floor 91 that extends laterally fromthe vertical walls 87 and 88 and is arranged to receive the bottom wall19 of the respective hollow bottom container fitting 14. The floor 91terminates, in part, in a downwardly inclined portion 92 which connectswith the side wall 22 as shown more clearly in FIGS. 12 and 13. A frontwall 93 extendsdownwardly from the floor 91 and interconnects the sidewall 82 and the vertical wall 87 of the housing 83.

For automatically latching the individual hollow bottom containerfittings l4 and thereby the container 13 to the respective containerlocking means 77 an L-shaped latch lever or hell crank 96 is employed asshown more clearly in FIGS. 12 and 13. The lever or bell crank '96 ismovably mounted between lateral extensions 97 from the vertical wall 87and includes a relatively short arm 98 that is arranged to move throughan opening 99 in the vertical wall 87 and into the adjacent latchreceiving opening 15 in the side wall 16 of the ho]- low bottomcontainer fitting 14. At its distal end the relatively short arm 98 hasan inclined oval face 100 that is located in the path of the downwardmovement of the lower corner 101 of the container fitting 14. Thearrangement is such that, as the container fitting 14 moves downwardlyand the lower comer 101 engages the inclined oval face 100, the lever orbell crank 96 is moved outwardly and is displaced until the latchreceiving opening 15 registers with the end of the short arm 98whereupon a side surface 102 of the relatively short arm 98, whichextends transversely to the path of the container fitting l4, overlies alower end 103 of the latch receiving opening 15. Thereupon therelatively short arm 98 is biased into latching position in the latchreceiving opening 15 in which the side surface 102 is parallel to thesurface of the lower end 103 of the latch receiving opening 15.

The latch lever or bell crank 96 is movable about a transverse axis 106which extends through a transverse hollow pin 107 that is carried at itsends by the lateral extensions 97 of the vertical end wall 87. Anarcuate slot 108 at the junction 109 between the relatively short arm 98of the latch lever or bell crank 106 and the relatively long arm 110thereof has the pin 107 extending therethrough. A transverse pin 111 islocated near the distal end of the relatively long am 110 and itscentral axis 112 is the center of curvature of the arcuate slot 108 atthe junction 109 between the arms 98 and 110 of the latch lever or bellcrank 96. The transverse pin 111 ex tends at its ends into arcuate slots113 that are located in the inner sides of the lower wall extension 89of the vertical wall 88 and in the front wall 93. The center ofcurvature of the ar' cuate slots 113 is located on the axis 106 throughthe hollow pin 107. In this manner the latch lever or bell crank 96 isrotatable about two axes 106 and 1 12.

For biasing the relatively short arm 98 into latching engage ment withthe latch receiving opening in the container fitting 14 a relativelyweak coil tension spring 116 is employed. It may be a 50 pound springwith one end secured to an apertured lug 117 that depends from theinclined portion 92 of the side wall 82 and an apertured lug 118 thatextends laterally from the relatively long arm 110 intermediate itsends. The coil tension spring 116 is arranged to rotate the latch leveror bell crank 96 about the axis 112 which, during the application of thecontainer fitting 14 to the housing 83, remains stationary. In thelatched position, as shown in FIG. 9, the left end of the arcuate slot108 is held against the pin 107 which acts as a stop for the latch leveror bell crank 96 in its movement toward latched position under theinfluence of spring 116. In this position the latch lever or bell crank96 is spaced from the adjacent outer surface of the wall 87.

The ends of the transverse pin 1 11 projecting from opposite sides ofthe distal end of the relatively long arm 110 are located in bifurcatedextensions 119 from a spring follower 120 against which a relativelystrong coil compression spring 121 reacts. The spring 121 may be a 350pound spring. One end bears against the spring follower 120 while theother end bears against the under side 122 of the inclined portion 92 ofthe side wall 82.

In operation the latched position of the latch lever or hell crank 96with respect to the housing 83 of the container locking means 77 is asshown by full lines in FIG. 9 and by broken lines in FIG. 12. As thecontainer fitting 14 moves downwardly in the direction indicated byarrow 123 in FIG. 12 the lower corner 101 of the container fitting 14engages the inclined oval 'face 100 and causes the latch lever or bellcrank 96 to rotate about the axis 1 12 in a counterclockwise directionindicated by arrow 124, FIG. 12. Continued downward movement of thecontainer fitting 14 results in the side surface 102 coming intoregistry with the lower end 103 of the latch receiving opening 15.Thereupon the relatively weak coil tension spring 116 rotates the latchlever or bell crank 96 about the axis 112 in a clockwise directionopposite to arrow 124 and moves the relatively short arm 98 intolatching engagement with the latch receiving opening 15. This positionis shown in FIG. 9 where the side surface 102 is parallel to the surfaceof the lower end 103 of the latch receiving opening 15.

In the latched position of the latch lever or bell crank 96, anytendency of it to be rotated to an unlatching position as the result ofnormal upward movement of the container fitting 14 is resisted by therelatively strong coil compression spring 121. It is only whensufficient force is applied to the rectangular container 13 to lift itfrom the transport carrier 70 and to overcome the biasing action of therelatively strong coil compression springs 121, that the latch lever orbell crank 96 is moved to unlatching position.

As indicated in FIG. 13, when the container fitting 14 is movedupwardly, as indicated by arrow 125, the lower end 103 of the latchreceiving opening 15 engages the side surface 102 of the relativelyshort arm 98. Sufficient force is applied in lifting the container 13 torotate the latch lever or bell crank 96 about axis 106 in the directionindicated by arrow 126, FIG. 13, and to compress the relatively strongcoil compression spring 121. As sufficient over-ride force is applied tothe container 13 by the unloading hoist, the latch lever or bell crank96 pivots about axis 106 until the angle of the side surface 102approaches the angle of the coefficient of friction between thematerials of which the housing 83 and latch lever or bell crank 96 areformed, for example malleable iron and steel. When this occurs the latchlever or bell crank 96 rotates about axis 1 l2 outwardly as indicated byarrow 124 in FIG. 12 as permitted by arcuate slot 108. Thus therelatively short arm 98 is moved out of latching engagement with thelatch receiving opening 15 on continued upward movement of the containerfitting 14. As soon as the lower corner 101 clears the juncture betweenthe inclined oval face and the side surface 102, the relatively strongcoil compression spring 121 expands and the latch lever or bell crank 96is rotated to the latching position, the container fitting 14, however,being absent. This unlatching action will only occur when sufficientforce is applied in lifting the container 13 to overcome the forcesexerted by the relatively strong compression springs 121. It will nottake place due to rocking action of the transport carrier 70, wind loadsand the like incident to normal transport operations.

When it is desirable to store the container locking means 77 to permituse of the transport carrier 70 for other purposes, the lower wallextension 89 is shifted out of the notch 76 and into the longitudinalslot 74. It is moved along the slot 74 and near the end it is swungabout the trunnion 90 into the opening 78 which subsequently is closedby the cover 79.

In FIG. 14 there is illustrated at 127 a deck formed of steel plate of atransport carrier as indicated, generally, at 128. It will be understoodthat the transport carrier 128, like the transport carriers 10 and 70,can be a part of a railway car, truck, ship, etc. Only one end and aportion of the deck 127 are illustrated. Here left and right handcontainer locking means 129 and 130 are illustrated which are duplicatesin construction except for right and left hand configurations. At theextreme end of the deck 127 the container locking means 129 and 130 arein fixed locations, i.e., they are not movable along the deck 127.However, they are arranged to be retracted into rectangular openings 131and 132 in the deck 127. Each of the container locking means 129 and 130includes a housing 133 which, like the housing 83, is formed ofmalleable iron or other suitable material. Each housing 133 includes acover wall 134 which as shown for the container locking means 130 isarranged to overlie the respective rectangular opening 131 or 132 whenthe container locking means 129 or 130 is in the retracted position. Alatch lever or bell crank 135, similar in construction to the latchlever or bell crank 96 previously described, is mounted in the coverwall 134 for engagement with the latch receiving opening 15 in thehollow bottom container fitting 14 at the lower comer of a container 13.Each housing 133 includes an inner wall 137 from which a pair oftrunnions 138 extend underneath the deck 127. The trunnions 138 permitrotation of the housing 133 into the respective rectangular opening 131or 132 for retracting the same. A slot 139 in the cover wall 134facilitates removing the container locking means 129 and 130 from therespective opening 131 and 132 to swing the same to the erect position.

A side wall 140 extends at right angles from each of the cover walls134. It will be understood that the cover wall 134 is arranged tooverlie the side wall 16 of the container fitting 14 while the side wall140 of the housing 133 is arranged to overlie the side wall 17 of thecontainer fitting 14. The cover wall 134 and side wall 140 for the rightand left hand container locking means 129 and 130 are arranged asillustrated in FIG. 14 so that the four container locking means at theend of the deck 127 can receive the lower four comers of the container13. While the container locking means 129 and 130 at the extreme end ofthe deck 127 occupy fixed locations, the next set of container lockingmeans 129 and 130 are movable along longitudinal slots 142 which extendnear the sides of the deck 127 as shown. Rectangular openings 143communicate with the longitudinal slots 142 for the purpose ofpermitting retraction of the left and right hand container locking means129 and 130 either to permit the use of the transport carrier 128 forother transportation service or for retracting the container lockingmeans 129 and 130 to permit their being by passed by other containerlocking means. For each location of the container locking means 129 and130 movable along the longitudinal slots 142 a notch 144 is provided forreceiving a shear lug 145, FIGS. 15 and 16, that depends from each ofthe housings 133. The shear lugs 145 extend generally transversely ofextensions 146 of the cover wall 134 which project downwardly throughthe slots 142 as indicated more clearly in FIG. 16.

For holding the trunnions 138 in place when the housing 133 occupies theretracted position shown by broken lines in FIG. 16, stirrups 147 aresecured to the under sides of longitudinal channels 148 and 149. Each ofthe trunnions 138 is relieved as indicated at 150 in order to by passthe juxtaposed end of the shear lug 145 in retracted position by thehousing 133 in erect position. i

The reason for providing for by passing a retracted housing 133 is toprovide a wide'range in adjustment for the container locking means 129and 130 along the slots 142. For example, it may be necessary tointerchange the movable left hand and right hand container locking means129 and 130 for a given container. This can be accomplished byretracting one of the sets, for example the sets of container lockingmeans 130 and 129 at the left ends of the longitudinal slots 142 in FIG.14, and then replacing them with the left and right hand containerlocking means 129 and 130 which in this instance would face in theopposite direction.

What is claimed is:

1. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising: housing means for attachment to saidtransport carrier for underlying each bottom container fitting, latchmeans on said housing means for entering said opening in said wall forlatching engagement therewith, and spring means reacting against saidlatch means and being characterized by permitting displacement thereofout of the path of said container fitting in moving toward said housingmeans and biasing said latch means into latching position in saidopening in said fitting, said spring means being further characterizedby being capable of holding said latch means in said latching positionuntil sufficient force is applied to lift said container from andtransport carrier whereupon said latch means is moved out of saidlatching position, said spring means including: relatively weak firstspring means arranged to be stressed on application of said container tosaid housing means to bias said latch means to latching position, andrelatively strong second spring means providing the principal force forholding said latch means in latching position and arranged to bestressed when said container is lifted from said transport carrier.

2. Container securing means according to claim 1 wherein guide meansmount said first spring means to react against said latch means in onedirection, and

guide means mount said second spring means to react against said latchmeans ina direction transverse to said one direction.

3. Container securing means according to claim 2 wherein pin and slotmeans in the first mentioned guide means hold said first spring means inprestressed condition, and pin and slot means in the second mentionedguide means hold said second spring means in prestressed condition.

4. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising: housing means for attachment to saidtransport carrier for underlying each bottom container fitting, latchmeans on said housing means for entering said opening in said wall forlatching engagement therewith, spring means reacting against said latchmeans and being characterized by permitting displacement thereof out ofthe path of said container fitting in moving toward said housing meansand biasing said latch means into latching position in said opening insaid fitting, said spring means being further characterized by beingcapable of holding said latch means in said latching position untilsufficient force is applied to lift said container from said transportcarrier whereupon said latch means is moved out of said latchingposition, said spring means including: first spring means arranged to bestressed on application of said container to said housing means to biassaid latch means to latching position, and second spring means providingthe principal force for holding said latch means in latching positionand arranged to be stressed when said container is lifted from saidtransport carrier, means guiding said latch means for translatorymovement into said latching position under the influence of said firstspring means, and means mounting said latch means for rotary movementaway from said latching position and against the influence of saidsecond spring means.

5. Container securing means according to claim 4 wherein a springfollower is biased by said second spring means to react against saidlatch means,

said spring follower has a surface for sliding engagement with saidlatch means, and

stop means hold said spring follower in spaced relation to said latchmeans and said second spring means in prestressed condition.

6. Container securing means for a transport carrier ar' ranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising:

housing means for attachment to said transport carrier for underlyingeach bottom container fitting,

- latch means translatorily and rotatably mounted on said housing meansfor entering said opening in said wall of said container fitting,

means for automatically translatorily moving said latch means tolatching position with respect to said opening in said wall in responseto application of said container thereto,

means for automatically rotating said latch means from said latchingposition with respect to said opening in said wall in response toremoval of said container therefrom,

first spring means for biasing said latch means for translatory movementto said latching position, and

second spring means reacting against said latch means to hold it in saidlatching position.

7. Container securing means according to claim 6 wherein said secondspring means is stronger than said first spring means and acts to holdsaid latch means against rotation from said latching position.

8. Container securing means according to claim 6 wherein said latchmeans has a first surface inclined with respect to the path of saidcontainer fitting in moving toward said latching position and engageableby said fitting to translate said latch means away from said pan andsaid latch means has a second surface angularly related to said firstsurface and engageable by said fitting in its movement away from saidhousing to rotate said latch means away from said latching position torelease said fitting.

9. Container securing means for a transport carrier having a slot in thefloor thereof communicating with an opening to secure to said transportcarrier a container having at least one bottom container fitting with alatch receiving opening in a wall thereof said container securing meanscomprising: housing means for underlying said bottom container fittingand having a depending wall section for projecting through said slot andmovement therealong to different positions to accommodate differentlengths of containers, said wall section terminating in trunnion meansextending across said slot to attach said housing means to saidtransport carrier, said housing means being rotatable by said trunnionmeans into said opening to position said housing means in retractedposition therein, and latch means on said housing means forautomatically entering said opening in said wall of said bottomcontainer fitting for latching engagement therewith when said bottomcontainer fitting is lowered onto said housing, relatively weak firstspring means arranged to be stressed on application of said container tosaid housing means to bias said latch means to latching position, andrelatively strong second spring means providing the principal force forholding said latch means in latching position and arranged to bestressed when said container is lifted from said transport carrier.

10. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising housing means for attachment to said transportcarrier for underlying each bottom container fitting,

latch means for entering said opening in said wall of said containerfitting,

pin and slot means on said housing means and on said latch means movablymounting said latch means on said housing means,

pivot means on said latch means,

first spring means reacting between said housing means and said latchmeans for rotating said latch means about said pivot means into latchingposition in said opening in said wall of said container fitting onapplication of said container to said transport carrier, and

second spring means reacting between said housing and said pivot meansfor holding said latch means in said latching position until sufficientforce is applied to lift said container from said transport carrier andovercome the force exerted by said second spring means.

11. Container securing means according to claim wherein stop means onsaid housing means limit movement of said latch means toward latchingposition.

12. Container securing means according to claim 10 wherein said latchmeans is generally L-shaped, said pin and slot means is located at thejunction between the long and short arms, the distal end of said shortarm is arranged to enter said opening in said container fitting, andsaid pivot means is located at the distal end of said long arm.

13. Container securing means according to claim 12 wherein the endsurface of said distal end of said short arm is inclined to the path ofsaid container fitting and is engageable thereby to be displaced as saidcontainer is applied to said transport carrier against the force of saidfirst spring means, and

a side surface of said distal end of said short arm extends transverselyto said path of said container fitting and is engageable thereby to bedisplaced from said latching position as said container is lifted fromsaid transport carrier to rotate said latch means and further stresssaid second Spring means.

l4. Container securing means according to claim 13 wherein said firstspring means is a relatively weak tension spring and is connected tosaid long arm intermediate its ends, said'second spring means is arelatively strong compression spring, and

said latch means is rotated when said short arm is displaced by upwardmovement of said container fitting and said second spring means isfurther compressed.

l5. Container securing means according to claim 14 wherein said pivotmeans includes a pin that extends into a slot in said housing means andlimits the expansion of said second spring means.

16. Container securing means according to claim 15 wherein said pin andslot means includes a pin mounted on said housing means and an arcuateslot in said latch means the center of curvature of which is located atsaid pin at said distal end of said long arm, and

said slot in said housing means is an arcuate slot the center ofcurvature of which is located at said pin on said housing means.

l7. Container securing means according to claim 10 wherein angularlyrelated side walls of said housing means are arranged to overliecorresponding side walls of said bottom container fitting, and

said latch means is arranged to move through one of said side walls ofsaid housing means.

18. Container securing means according to claim 17 wherein a pair ofwalls extend from said one side wall of said housing means and carrysaid pin of said pin and slot means to mount said latch meanstherebetween, and

another pair of walls on said housing means have said first and secondspring means therebetween.

l9. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising housing means for attachment to said transportcarrier for underlying each bottom container fitting,

a bell crank having one arm for entering said opening in said wall ofsaid container fitting in latching position therewith,

pin and slot means on said housing means and on said bell crank formovably mounting said bell crank on said housing means,

first spring means reacting between said housing means and the other armof said bell crank for moving said one arm into latching position insaid opening in said wall of said container fitting on lowering of saidcontainer onto said transport carrier, and

second spring means reacting between said housing means and the distalend of said other arm of said bell crank for holding said one arm insaid latching position until sufficient force is applied to raise saidcontainer from said transport carrier and overcome the force exerted bysaid second spring means.

20. Container securing means according to claim 19 wherein said pin andslot means is located at the junction between said arms of said bellcrank,

pin and slot means at the distal end of said other arm of said bellcrank and on said housing means movably mount said bell crank on saidhousing means,

said first spring means reacts against said other arm of said bell crankbetween said junction and said distal end, and

said second spring means reacts against said pin of said pin and slotmeans at said distal end.

21. Container securing means according to claim 20 wherein said pin ofsaid pin and slot means at said junction is mounted on said housingmeans and said slot thereof is located in said bell crank,

said pin of said pin and slot means at said distal end is mounted onsaid other arm and said slot thereof is located in said housing means,

22. Container securing means according to claim 21 wherein said slot ofsaid pin and slot means at said junction is an arcuate slot having itscenter of curvature at said pin at said distal end, and

said slot at said distal end is an arcuate slot having its center ofcurvature at said pin at said junction.

23. Container securing means according to claim 22 wherein angularlyrelated side walls of said housing means are arranged to overliecorresponding side walls of said bottom container fitting, and

said one arm of said bell crank is arranged to move through one of saidside walls of said housing means.

24. Container securing means according to claim 23 wherein a pair ofwalls extend from one side wall of said housing means and carry said pinof said pin and slot means at said junction to mount said bell cranktherebetween, and

another pair of walls on said housing means are located on oppositesides of said first and second spring means.

25. Container securing means according to claim 19 wherein said one armof said bell crank has an end surface inclined to the path of saidcontainer fitting and is engageable thereby to be displaced as saidcontainer is lowered onto said transport carrier against the force ofsaid first spring means, and

a side surface of said one arm of said bell crank extends transverselyto said path of said container fitting and is engageable thereby to bedisplaced from latching position as said container is lifted from saidtransport carrier to rotate said bell crank and further stress saidsecond spring means.

26. Container securing means according to claim 25 wherein said firstspring means is a relatively weak tension spring and is connected tosaid other arm of said bell crank intermediate its ends, and

said second spring means is a relatively strong compression spring.

27. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising:

housing means for attachment to said transport carrier for underlyingeach bottom container fitting, latch means in the form of a bell crankhaving one arm for entering said opening in said wall of said containerfitting,

pin and slot means on said housing means and at the junction between thearms of said latch means movably mounting said latch means on saidhousing means, and

spring means reacting against the other arm of said latch means, biasingsaid latch means to hold said pin and slot means at one end position andbeing characterized by permitting displacement of said one arm of saidlatch means out of the path of said container fitting in moving towardsaid housing means and movement of said pin and slot means away fromsaid one position andbiasing said latch means into latching position insaid opening in said fitting, said spring means being furthercharacterized by being capable of holding said latch means in saidlatching position until sufficient force is applied to lift saidcontainer from said transport carrier whereupon said latch means ismoved out of said latching position.

28. Container securing means according to claim 27 wherein said springmeans is characterized by exerting a greater force to hold said latchmeans in said latching position than is required to permit displacementthereof out of said path of said container fitting in moving toward saidhousing means.

29. Container securing means for a transport carrier having a deck, saidcontainer securing means being arranged to secure to said deck one ormore containers each having at least one bottom container fitting with alatch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said container securing meanscomprising:

housing means having angularly related side walls for overlyingcorresponding side walls of said bottom container fitting,

latch means on one of said side walls for entering said latch receivingopening in said bottom container fitting for latching engagementtherewith, and

trunnion means depending from said housing means on the side oppositesaid side wall on which said latch means is mounted and underlying saiddeck to permit said housing means to pivot in a direction to causefurther latching engagement of said latch means with said bottomcontainer fitting when said bottom container fitting is moved upwardlyduring transport.

30. Container securing means according to claim 29 wherein spring meansreact against said latch means to permit displacement thereof out of thepath of saidfcontainer fitting in moving toward said housing means andto bias said latch means into latching position in said opening in saidfitting, said spring means being capable of holding said latch means insaid latching position until sufficient force is applied to lift saidbottom container fitting from said transport carrier whereupon saidlatch means is moved out of said latching position.

31. Container securing means according to claim 30 wherein said springmeans is characterized by exerting a greater force to hold said latchmeans in said latching position than is required to permit displacementthereof out of said path of said container fitting in moving toward saidhousing means.

32. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof comprising:

a deck for said transport carrier having a lengthwise exte nd- .ing slotcommunicating with one or more openings extending transversely thereof,

a plurality of housing means each arranged to underlie said bottomcontainerfitting and each having extension means extending through saidslot and slidable therealong,

trunnion means at the distal end of said extension means having atransverse dimension greater than the width of said slot to hold saidhousing means inseparable from said deck and enabling each housing meansto be swung into one of said openings, said trunnion means having arelieved section in the upright operative position of the respectivehousing means to by pass a housing means in retracted position, and

latch means on each housing means for entering said opening in said wallof said bottom container fitting for latching engagement therewith whensaid housing means is in erect position and, said bottom containerfitting is lowered onto said housing.

33. Container securing means according to claim 32 wherein:

said lengthwise extending slot has notches therealong, and

each of said housing means has shear lug means depending therefrom forinsertion in one of said notches to locate the respective housing meansat a predetermined position therealong.

34. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof comprising:

a deck for said transport carrier having a lengthwise extending slotcommunicating with one or more openings extending transversely thereof,

a plurality of housing means each arranged to underlie said bottomcontainer fitting and each having extension means extending through saidslot and slidable therealong,

trunnion means at the distal end of said extension means having atransverse dimension greater than the width of said slot to hold saidhousing means inseparable from said deck and enabling each housing meansto be swung into one of said openings, said trunnion means beingarranged and constructed in the upright operative position of therespective housing means to by pass a housing means in retractedposition,

latch means on each housing means for entering said opening in said wallof said bottom container fitting for latching engagement therewith whensaid housing means is in erect position and, said bottom containerfitting is lowered onto said housing,

said lengthwise extending slot having notches therealong,

shear lu'g means depending from each of said housing means for insertionin one of said notcihes to locate the respective housing means at apredetermined position therealong,

said shear lug means in the retracted position of the respective housingmeans extending into the path of the trunnion means of the housing meansslidable along said slot, and

position.

1. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising: housing means for attachment to saidtransport carrier for underlying each bottom container fitting, latchmeans on said housing means for entering said opening in said wall forlatching engagement therewith, and spring means reacting against saidlatch means and being characterized by permitting displacement thereofout of the path of said container fitting in moving toward said housingmeans and biasing said latch means into latching position in saidopening in said fitting, said spring means being further characterizedby being capable of holding said latch means in said latching positionuntil sufficient force is applied to lift said container from saidtransport carrier whereupon said latch means is moved out of saidlatching position, said spring means including: relatively weak firstspring means arranged to be stressed on application of said container tosaid housing means to bias said latch means to latching position, andrelatively strong second spring means providing the principal force forholding said latch means in latching position and arranged to bestressed when said container is lifted from said transport carrier. 2.Container securing means according to claim 1 wherein guide means mountsaid first spring means to react against said latch means in onedirection, and guide means mount said second spring means to reactagainst said latch means in a direction transverse to said onedirection.
 3. Container securing means according to claim 2 wherein pinand slot means in the first mentioned guide means hold said first springmeans in prestressed condition, and pin and slot means in the secondmentioned guide means hold said second spring means in prestressedcondition.
 4. Container securing means for a transport carrier arrangedto secure thereto one or more containers each having at least one bottomcontainer fitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, saidcontainer securing means comprising: housing means for attachment tosaid transport carrier for underlying each bottom container fitting,latch means on said housing means for entering said opening in said wallfor latching engagement therewith, spring means reacting against saidlatch means and being characterized by permitting displacement thereofout of the path of said container fitting in moving toward said housingmeans and biasing said latch means into latching position in saidopening in said fitting, said spring means being further characterizedby being capable of holding said laTch means in said latching positionuntil sufficient force is applied to lift said container from saidtransport carrier whereupon said latch means is moved out of saidlatching position, said spring means including: first spring meansarranged to be stressed on application of said container to said housingmeans to bias said latch means to latching position, and second springmeans providing the principal force for holding said latch means inlatching position and arranged to be stressed when said container islifted from said transport carrier, means guiding said latch means fortranslatory movement into said latching position under the influence ofsaid first spring means, and means mounting said latch means for rotarymovement away from said latching position and against the influence ofsaid second spring means.
 5. Container securing means according to claim4 wherein a spring follower is biased by said second spring means toreact against said latch means, said spring follower has a surface forsliding engagement with said latch means, and stop means hold saidspring follower in spaced relation to said latch means and said secondspring means in prestressed condition.
 6. Container securing means for atransport carrier arranged to secure thereto one or more containers eachhaving at least one bottom container fitting with a latch receivingopening in a wall thereof, said container securing means comprising:housing means for attachment to said transport carrier for underlyingeach bottom container fitting, latch means translatorily and rotatablymounted on said housing means for entering said opening in said wall ofsaid container fitting, means for automatically translatorily movingsaid latch means to latching position with respect to said opening insaid wall in response to application of said container thereto, meansfor automatically rotating said latch means from said latching positionwith respect to said opening in said wall in response to removal of saidcontainer therefrom, first spring means for biasing said latch means fortranslatory movement to said latching position, and second spring meansreacting against said latch means to hold it in said latching position.7. Container securing means according to claim 6 wherein said secondspring means is stronger than said first spring means and acts to holdsaid latch means against rotation from said latching position. 8.Container securing means according to claim 6 wherein said latch meanshas a first surface inclined with respect to the path of said containerfitting in moving toward said latching position and engageable by saidfitting to translate said latch means away from said path, and saidlatch means has a second surface angularly related to said first surfaceand engageable by said fitting in its movement away from said housing torotate said latch means away from said latching position to release saidfitting.
 9. Container securing means for a transport carrier having aslot in the floor thereof communicating with an opening to secure tosaid transport carrier a container having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof said containersecuring means comprising: housing means for underlying said bottomcontainer fitting and having a depending wall section for projectingthrough said slot and movement therealong to different positions toaccommodate different lengths of containers, said wall sectionterminating in trunnion means extending across said slot to attach saidhousing means to said transport carrier, said housing means beingrotatable by said trunnion means into said opening to position saidhousing means in retracted position therein, and latch means on saidhousing means for automatically entering said opening in said wall ofsaid bottom container fitting for latching engagement therewith whensaid bottom container fitting is lowered onto said housing, relativelyweak firSt spring means arranged to be stressed on application of saidcontainer to said housing means to bias said latch means to latchingposition, and relatively strong second spring means providing theprincipal force for holding said latch means in latching position andarranged to be stressed when said container is lifted from saidtransport carrier.
 10. Container securing means for a transport carrierarranged to secure thereto one or more containers each having at leastone bottom container fitting with a latch receiving opening in a wallthereof, said container securing means comprising housing means forattachment to said transport carrier for underlying each bottomcontainer fitting, latch means for entering said opening in said wall ofsaid container fitting, pin and slot means on said housing means and onsaid latch means movably mounting said latch means on said housingmeans, pivot means on said latch means, first spring means reactingbetween said housing means and said latch means for rotating said latchmeans about said pivot means into latching position in said opening insaid wall of said container fitting on application of said container tosaid transport carrier, and second spring means reacting between saidhousing and said pivot means for holding said latch means in saidlatching position until sufficient force is applied to lift saidcontainer from said transport carrier and overcome the force exerted bysaid second spring means.
 11. Container securing means according toclaim 10 wherein stop means on said housing means limit movement of saidlatch means toward latching position.
 12. Container securing meansaccording to claim 10 wherein said latch means is generally L-shaped,said pin and slot means is located at the junction between the long andshort arms, the distal end of said short arm is arranged to enter saidopening in said container fitting, and said pivot means is located atthe distal end of said long arm.
 13. Container securing means accordingto claim 12 wherein the end surface of said distal end of said short armis inclined to the path of said container fitting and is engageablethereby to be displaced as said container is applied to said transportcarrier against the force of said first spring means, and a side surfaceof said distal end of said short arm extends transversely to said pathof said container fitting and is engageable thereby to be displaced fromsaid latching position as said container is lifted from said transportcarrier to rotate said latch means and further stress said second springmeans.
 14. Container securing means according to claim 13 wherein saidfirst spring means is a relatively weak tension spring and is connectedto said long arm intermediate its ends, said second spring means is arelatively strong compression spring, and said latch means is rotatedwhen said short arm is displaced by upward movement of said containerfitting and said second spring means is further compressed. 15.Container securing means according to claim 14 wherein said pivot meansincludes a pin that extends into a slot in said housing means and limitsthe expansion of said second spring means.
 16. Container securing meansaccording to claim 15 wherein said pin and slot means includes a pinmounted on said housing means and an arcuate slot in said latch meansthe center of curvature of which is located at said pin at said distalend of said long arm, and said slot in said housing means is an arcuateslot the center of curvature of which is located at said pin on saidhousing means.
 17. Container securing means according to claim 10wherein angularly related side walls of said housing means are arrangedto overlie corresponding side walls of said bottom container fitting,and said latch means is arranged to move through one of said side wallsof said housing means.
 18. Container securing means according to claim17 wherein a pair Of walls extend from said one side wall of saidhousing means and carry said pin of said pin and slot means to mountsaid latch means therebetween, and another pair of walls on said housingmeans have said first and second spring means therebetween. 19.Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising housing means for attachment to said transportcarrier for underlying each bottom container fitting, a bell crankhaving one arm for entering said opening in said wall of said containerfitting in latching position therewith, pin and slot means on saidhousing means and on said bell crank for movably mounting said bellcrank on said housing means, first spring means reacting between saidhousing means and the other arm of said bell crank for moving said onearm into latching position in said opening in said wall of saidcontainer fitting on lowering of said container onto said transportcarrier, and second spring means reacting between said housing means andthe distal end of said other arm of said bell crank for holding said onearm in said latching position until sufficient force is applied to raisesaid container from said transport carrier and overcome the forceexerted by said second spring means.
 20. Container securing meansaccording to claim 19 wherein said pin and slot means is located at thejunction between said arms of said bell crank, pin and slot means at thedistal end of said other arm of said bell crank and on said housingmeans movably mount said bell crank on said housing means, said firstspring means reacts against said other arm of said bell crank betweensaid junction and said distal end, and said second spring means reactsagainst said pin of said pin and slot means at said distal end. 21.Container securing means according to claim 20 wherein said pin of saidpin and slot means at said junction is mounted on said housing means andsaid slot thereof is located in said bell crank, said pin of said pinand slot means at said distal end is mounted on said other arm and saidslot thereof is located in said housing means.
 22. Container securingmeans according to claim 21 wherein said slot of said pin and slot meansat said junction is an arcuate slot having its center of curvature atsaid pin at said distal end, and said slot at said distal end is anarcuate slot having its center of curvature at said pin at saidjunction.
 23. Container securing means according to claim 22 whereinangularly related side walls of said housing means are arranged tooverlie corresponding side walls of said bottom container fitting, andsaid one arm of said bell crank is arranged to move through one of saidside walls of said housing means.
 24. Container securing means accordingto claim 23 wherein a pair of walls extend from one side wall of saidhousing means and carry said pin of said pin and slot means at saidjunction to mount said bell crank therebetween, and another pair ofwalls on said housing means are located on opposite sides of said firstand second spring means.
 25. Container securing means according to claim19 wherein said one arm of said bell crank has an end surface inclinedto the path of said container fitting and is engageable thereby to bedisplaced as said container is lowered onto said transport carrieragainst the force of said first spring means, and a side surface of saidone arm of said bell crank extends transversely to said path of saidcontainer fitting and is engageable thereby to be displaced fromlatching position as said container is lifted from said transportcarrier to rotate said bell crank and further stress said second springmeans.
 26. Container securing means according to claim 25 wherein saidfirst spring means is a relaTively weak tension spring and is connectedto said other arm of said bell crank intermediate its ends, and saidsecond spring means is a relatively strong compression spring. 27.Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said containersecuring means comprising: housing means for attachment to saidtransport carrier for underlying each bottom container fitting, latchmeans in the form of a bell crank having one arm for entering saidopening in said wall of said container fitting, pin and slot means onsaid housing means and at the junction between the arms of said latchmeans movably mounting said latch means on said housing means, andspring means reacting against the other arm of said latch means, biasingsaid latch means to hold said pin and slot means at one end position andbeing characterized by permitting displacement of said one arm of saidlatch means out of the path of said container fitting in moving towardsaid housing means and movement of said pin and slot means away fromsaid one position and biasing said latch means into latching position insaid opening in said fitting, said spring means being furthercharacterized by being capable of holding said latch means in saidlatching position until sufficient force is applied to lift saidcontainer from said transport carrier whereupon said latch means ismoved out of said latching position.
 28. Container securing meansaccording to claim 27 wherein said spring means is characterized byexerting a greater force to hold said latch means in said latchingposition than is required to permit displacement thereof out of saidpath of said container fitting in moving toward said housing means. 29.Container securing means for a transport carrier having a deck, saidcontainer securing means being arranged to secure to said deck one ormore containers each having at least one bottom container fitting with alatch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said container securing meanscomprising: housing means having angularly related side walls foroverlying corresponding side walls of said bottom container fitting,latch means on one of said side walls for entering said latch receivingopening in said bottom container fitting for latching engagementtherewith, and trunnion means depending from said housing means on theside opposite said side wall on which said latch means is mounted andunderlying said deck to permit said housing means to pivot in adirection to cause further latching engagement of said latch means withsaid bottom container fitting when said bottom container fitting ismoved upwardly during transport.
 30. Container securing means accordingto claim 29 wherein spring means react against said latch means topermit displacement thereof out of the path of said container fitting inmoving toward said housing means and to bias said latch means intolatching position in said opening in said fitting, said spring meansbeing capable of holding said latch means in said latching positionuntil sufficient force is applied to lift said bottom container fittingfrom said transport carrier whereupon said latch means is moved out ofsaid latching position.
 31. Container securing means according to claim30 wherein said spring means is characterized by exerting a greaterforce to hold said latch means in said latching position than isrequired to permit displacement thereof out of said path of saidcontainer fitting in moving toward said housing means.
 32. Containersecuring means for a transport carrier arranged to secure thereto one ormore containers each having at least one bottom container fitting with alatch receiving opening in a wall thereof comprising: a deck for saidtransport carrier having a lengthwise extending slot communicating withone or more openings extending transversely thereof, a plUrality ofhousing means each arranged to underlie said bottom container fittingand each having extension means extending through said slot and slidabletherealong, trunnion means at the distal end of said extension meanshaving a transverse dimension greater than the width of said slot tohold said housing means inseparable from said deck and enabling eachhousing means to be swung into one of said openings, said trunnion meanshaving a relieved section in the upright operative position of therespective housing means to by pass a housing means in retractedposition, and latch means on each housing means for entering saidopening in said wall of said bottom container fitting for latchingengagement therewith when said housing means is in erect position and,said bottom container fitting is lowered onto said housing. 33.Container securing means according to claim 32 wherein: said lengthwiseextending slot has notches therealong, and each of said housing meanshas shear lug means depending therefrom for insertion in one of saidnotches to locate the respective housing means at a predeterminedposition therealong.
 34. Container securing means for a transportcarrier arranged to secure thereto one or more containers each having atleast one bottom container fitting with a latch receiving opening in awall thereof comprising: a deck for said transport carrier having alengthwise extending slot communicating with one or more openingsextending transversely thereof, a plurality of housing means eacharranged to underlie said bottom container fitting and each havingextension means extending through said slot and slidable therealong,trunnion means at the distal end of said extension means having atransverse dimension greater than the width of said slot to hold saidhousing means inseparable from said deck and enabling each housing meansto be swung into one of said openings, said trunnion means beingarranged and constructed in the upright operative position of therespective housing means to by pass a housing means in retractedposition, latch means on each housing means for entering said opening insaid wall of said bottom container fitting for latching engagementtherewith when said housing means is in erect position and, said bottomcontainer fitting is lowered onto said housing, said lengthwiseextending slot having notches therealong, shear lug means depending fromeach of said housing means for insertion in one of said notches tolocate the respective housing means at a predetermined positiontherealong, said shear lug means in the retracted position of therespective housing means extending into the path of the trunnion meansof the housing means slidable along said slot, and each trunnion meanshaving a relieved section to by pass said shear lug means of saidhousing means in retracted position.